CHAPTER 8

NEVERLAND

believe

THE GUMMI SHIP SPED QUIETLY ACROSS THE OTHER SKY.

Sora looked up at Goofy. “Maybe I’ve been wrong…,” he said, frowning.

Unsure what to say, Goofy turned to Donald in the pilot seat.

“What’re you wrong about? You’re looking for Kairi, aren’t you?” Donald shouted back.

“But…”

“Don’t worry about it, Sora.”

“But I do want to see her…and Riku…” Sora hugged his knees to his chest.

“We want to see the king, too!” said Goofy.

“And I’ve wanted to see Pinocchio and Geppetto,” Jiminy Cricket added.

But Sora’s gloomy expression didn’t change.

“Aw, Sora, that face doesn’t suit you!”

“Hmm…” Sora was lost in thought.

“If you keep makin’ that face…,” Goofy started.

“I know, the Gummi Ship won’t run…”

“A-hyuck. Right! C’mon, Sora, smile!”

At Goofy’s insisting, Sora got himself to smile.

“There, just like that! That’ll keep the ship going!” Goofy grinned, giving him a thumbs-up.

“Yeah, you’re right… Being sad won’t help me find Kairi.” Sora finally got up and looked out at the Other Sky from the cockpit.

“You got it, Sora!” Donald cheered.

“Sorry I had you guys worried.” A little embarrassed, Sora scratched his head and moved next to the pilot seat. “Can you see the next world yet?”

“Not really. It oughta be around here, but…” Donald shot a beam to break up a space rock blocking their way. And then— “Oh no! This is real bad!”

Goofy ran flailing into the cockpit.

“What, Goofy?”

“Back there! Behind us!” Goofy pointed toward the stern and ran in circles around the cockpit.

“Well, I can’t exactly look behind me when I’m—” Donald turned for a second to look at Goofy. “Quaaack?!”

“What’s going on?” Sora turned, too, and saw another huge ship heading straight for them. “It—it—it’s a pirate ship!”

“First a whale and now pirates?!” Donald pushed the control stick all the way forward, trying to get the Gummi Ship into a speed that would let them escape. But the pirate ship was still gaining on them.

“It’s gonna ram us!” cried Donald. “Everybody hold tight!”

A huge impact rocked the Gummi Ship.

Aboard the pirate ship, in Captain Hook’s cabin, Kairi was stretched out on the sofa. Riku stared at her hard. “So Kairi’s no more than a lifeless puppet now?”

“Precisely,” Maleficent replied, standing behind him.

“And her heart…”

“Taken by the Heartless, no doubt.”

Riku turned to her, his fists clenched. “Tell me! What can I do?”

There was desperation in his voice. Maleficent spoke gently as if answering a child’s urgent questions. “There are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the Princesses of Heart. Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom… There, you will surely find a way to recover Kairi’s heart.”

She leaned in toward Riku’s downturned face. “Now, I’ll grant you a marvelous gift… The power to control the Heartless.”

A sickly greenish light spread out from Maleficent like a miasma and moved to envelop him.

“Soon, Kairi… Soon.” Riku turned to look at her once more. She didn’t even twitch, sleeping as still as a doll.

“Ow, ow, ow…” Sora got up, poking at the bruises he’d gotten here and there. “Donald…? Goofy?”

They must have been thrown from the Gummi Ship in different directions again.

“I can hear the ocean…”

Actually, he could hear waves all around, murmuring from every direction. He’d landed on the deck of the pirate ship. A big round moon hung in the sky, and the sea surrounding the ship was a completely different color from the brilliant turquoise waters of Destiny Island—here it was a deep blue. But the sound of the waves was the same, making Sora feel a little bit at home.

This was Neverland—the fantasyland where the dreams of children are born.

Sora walked up the deck toward the bow, and then he felt a presence behind him.

“I didn’t think you’d come, Sora.”

He turned to the familiar voice.

It was Riku, looking down at Sora from the bridge, the sea breeze riffling his silver hair. He smiled. “Good to see you again.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

Riku snorted. “Really? While you were off goofing around, I finally found Kairi.”

There beside him, Kairi sat—or rather, she’d been placed sitting up, like a doll. There was no strength in her posture at all, and her half-open eyes were dark and lifeless.

“Kairi!” Sora tried to run to her, but a hook thrust out to block his path.

“Not so fast. No shenanigans aboard my vessel, lad!”

Hook, the pirate captain, stood there with his shipmates.

“Riku, why are you siding with these guys?!” Sora shouted.

This isn’t like Riku at all. Not the Riku I know…

“The Heartless obey me now, Sora,” Riku said with a faint smile. “I have nothing to fear.”

Sora gritted his teeth and glared at Riku. He had no idea what to do.

“And I’ve picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this, for instance…” Riku raised one hand, and Sora’s shadow lifted up from the deck.

Horrified, Sora jumped back with the Keyblade ready.

“But I don’t really have time to play with you. Sorry, Sora.”

Then the floor opened up beneath Sora’s feet, and he fell down into the hold.

“Riku…!”

Hearing Sora’s shout trail off into the darkness belowdecks, Riku brushed his bangs back. “Let’s get under way already. And keep Sora away from Kairi until we’re ready to land,” he told Captain Hook, then picked up Kairi and went back into the cabin.

“Hmph. That scurvy brat thinks he can order me around?!” the captain spat, flourishing his hook.

Smee, the first mate, sniffed with his big red nose under his glasses and said, “What shall we do, Cap’n?”

“Nothing! The hold is crawling with Heartless. Let them keep an eye on the brats.”

“But, Cap’n, you-know-who is also down—” Smee began.

Hook held up a finger to his lips. “Shh! Did you hear that, Smee? Oh, that dreadful sound…!” He looked around with his shoulders hunched in terror.

“No, Cap’n.”

“Are you quite sure? Did I imagine it?” His bold demeanor had deserted him entirely, and he grabbed Smee by the shoulders as if for support. There was one thing that he just couldn’t bear. “Ohh, my poor nerves…,” he moaned, shaking his head.

“Whoa!”

“Yipe!”

“Quack!”

He landed on something soft.

“Get up already, Sora!”

It was Donald’s voice from under his behind. Apparently, Donald and Goofy had broken his fall once again.

“Where are we…?” Sora stood up and looked around. It seemed to be belowdecks, but there was hardly enough light to tell. They poked around impatiently, looking for a way out. Sora had to find Kairi again.

“Here’s a window!” They went to the tiny window, and Sora peeked out.

“See anything?” asked Donald.

“Not really…” Sora shook his head. It was just too dark.

“This way’s no good, either… The door won’t open.” Goofy pushed and pulled on the wooden door, but it didn’t budge.

“A-hem!” There was a tiny cough from behind Sora. Startled, he turned, but no one was there.

“Huh…?”

“How ya doin’ there? Looking for a way out?” A boy jumped out from the shadows behind some barrels. He was dressed all in green, including his cap, which had a red feather in it.

“Who are you?” Goofy said warily.

The boy puffed out his chest. “I’m the answer to your prayers!”

Donald frowned and tapped his foot, trying to decide whether the boy was friend or foe.

“But you’re stuck in here, too, aren’t you?” said Sora.

The boy in green burst out laughing. “I’m just waiting for someone!”

“Who?” Sora asked, and a tiny little light flew in circles around him.

“Tinker Bell, what took you so long?”

The trio stared in surprise. The little light stopped in front of the boy and took on shape—a fairy. She wore a dress, green like the boy’s outfit, and her glow twinkled as she hovered closer to the boy’s face.

“Great job. So you found Wendy?”

The fairy didn’t seem to be speaking. But with every twinkle, she made a tiny chiming sound, and somehow the boy understood what she meant to say, as if that was her language.

“Hold on—there was another girl there, too?”

“That has to be Kairi!” Sora moved closer. “Where are they?”

The fairy fluttered her glowing wings, looking less than pleased at Sora’s approach.

“Aw, Tink, don’t be mad… Huh? Are you crazy? There’s no way I’m leaving Wendy behind!”

Tinker Bell fluttered even more violently.

“Aha, she’s a girl, too! She must be pretty jealous!” Donald whispered to Goofy.

Tinker Bell glared at him and flew right over to kick him in the bill.

“Wak!” Donald held his bill in both hands.

Tinker Bell glanced from the corner of her eye and covered a giggle before she flew back out of the little window.

“Hey, c’mon, Tink! Open the door!” the boy called after her, flustered, but she didn’t come back.

“Aww, gee…” Sora looked at the glittering trail Tinker Bell had left in her path. “Umm…”

At a loss, the boy scratched his head, then stood up straighter and held out his hand. “I’m Peter Pan.”

“I’m Sora. This is Donald, and this is Goofy. Nice to meet you!” Sora tried to shake his hand, but Peter Pan pulled back instead.

“I’m going to find Wendy. …So we’re in this together, but only until we find her, got it?” he told them a little self-importantly.

Then they heard a click.

“The door’s open!”

Tinker Bell must have opened it after all. They hurried out, but a swarm of Heartless appeared practically from beneath their feet.

“Here goes!” Sora took his fighting stance with the Keyblade and went straight for them.

“Me, too!” Goofy followed him.

“Fira! Thundara! Blizzara!” Donald shot off spells as he jumped. But the shadow beneath him seemed to be crawling. “Hm? …S-S-Sora!”

Sora looked back and saw his own shadow, which Riku had conjured before. It had a shadow Keyblade, too, with which it was attacking Donald. “Quack! Wak!”

The shadow’s attacks were no less fast and fierce than Sora himself. It was all Donald could do to run away.

“I guess this is where I come in…” Peter Pan, who had been lingering by the door with his arms folded, launched into the air. He swooped down on Sora’s shadow and dealt it a single perfect blow.

“Ha! Take that!” Again and again, he swooped at the shadow, wearing it down.

“Hey, don’t take all the credit!” Seeing Peter Pan fight like that sparked Sora’s competitive spirit. He made a huge leap and brought the Keyblade down on the Heartless.

“Whew…”

After defeating the Heartless, they took refuge in another room to catch their breath. Peter Pan was somehow floating above the trio’s heads. Sora’s shadow had apparently disappeared to escape him.

“So, uh, how come you can fly?” Goofy asked, as if he couldn’t stand not knowing.

“Anyone can fly. You wanna try it?” Peter Pan alighted on the floor and held his fingers to his lips to whistle. The little sparkling light of Tinker Bell flew around them and then took shape in front of him.

“Just a little bit of pixie dust…” He held Tinker Bell by the wings and flew over the others. “There, now you can fly!”

Glittering dust fell from Tinker Bell and Peter Pan onto the trio.

“Really? For real?” Donald jumped up, flapping his arms like a bird, but belly flopped back on the floor. Sora and Goofy did the same, but one after the other, both fell again.

“See, we can’t fly!” Donald complained. Tinker Bell hovered in front of him, twinkling with laughter.

“So how do you fly?” Sora and Goofy folded their arms, concentrating. Tinker Bell flew around, scattering her sparkling dust as if to tease them.

In the captain’s quarters, Hook and Riku were deep in discussion.

“What?” Hook fumed. “So Wendy isn’t one of the chosen ones?”

“There are seven supposedly, and Maleficent says she’s not one of them,” Riku replied flatly and turned away. “Hoist anchor as soon as possible. And leave all the dead weight behind, including her.”

“After the trouble of capturing her?!” Hook stamped his foot. “And why those seven? What is Maleficent planning anyway?”

“Who knows?” Riku looked apathetically out the porthole at the dark sea. It was nothing like the ocean at Destiny Island. It’s not our ocean. “As long as it means getting Kairi’s heart back, I couldn’t care less.”

“Hah! You’re wasting your time! The Heartless have devoured that girl’s heart. I’ll stake me other hand, it’s lost forever.”

“No. They haven’t gotten her heart.” He spoke quietly, unruffled.

I’ll find her heart…no matter what it takes.

“Cap’n Hook…” A voice interrupted them via the speaking tube that piped into the cabin.

Hook grimaced and went to answer. “What?”

“The prisoners have escaped… And, er, Peter Pan is with them.”

“Blast that Peter Pan!” Hook spat.

The boy was a particular rival of his. In fact, Hook had convinced himself, it was thanks to no other than Peter Pan that he had a hook in place of his hand.

“All right, then! Bring the hostage to me cabin, Smee. Hop to it!”

Sora and the others fought their way through the Heartless across the belly of the ship.

“So…how do we get back up above deck?” Goofy wondered. They’d searched every nook and cranny, but hadn’t found a staircase or a ladder.

“This is the last room down here,” said Donald. When he opened the door, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell darted through first. “Hey, wait up!”

The trio followed them into yet another dim room. Tinker Bell, glittering, stuck close to Peter Pan. “What is it, Tink?”

She flew up and paused at a grate in the ceiling.

They heard a girl’s voice. “Peter? Peter Pan?”

Peter Pan flew close, putting his face right up to the grate. “Wendy!”

Now they could see a girl in a blue dress through it.

“Please hurry, Peter! The pirates are coming!”

“I’ll be right up there. Just hold on!” Peter Pan looked for a way to get up to the room above.

“Wendy?” Sora called, unable to keep quiet as he stared up from the floor.

“Yes?”

“Is there another girl in there with you?”

“Oh, why, yes—but she seems to be asleep. She hasn’t budged an inch…” Wendy looked back.

Trying to follow her line of sight, Sora climbed up onto a box, and then he could see Kairi’s leg. “Kairi? Wake up! Kairi!”

Kairi’s finger twitched. But then he couldn’t see her anymore—and Wendy screamed.

“Sora! C’mon, let’s get up there!”

At Peter Pan’s urging, Sora scrambled atop another box and made it up through a gap in the grate on the other side of the ceiling.

“Wendy! Are you in there?” Peter Pan called, knocking on the door to the room where Wendy just was. But there was no reply.

“Is the door locked?” Sora and Goofy tried ramming it, to no avail.

“Let’s find another way!” Donald ran in the opposite direction. At the same time, Peter Pan kept trying to ram the door along with Sora and Goofy.

“Hey, there’s a ladder over here!” Donald shouted, and the others exchanged glances, then climbed up the ladder.

They came up into a small cabin. And there…

“Riku…” Sora stared.

Riku was holding Kairi, who was still motionless as if in a deep sleep. He stepped back without a word. The other three only watched.

“What’s happened to you, Riku?!” cried Sora. “Even if you can use the Heartless to get Kairi’s heart back—if you have to hurt someone else to do it, that’s just going to make her sad!”

Riku only narrowed his eyes.

“Riku!” Sora called again, and then a shadow at Riku’s feet slowly rose from the floor.

It took on Sora’s shape. And it was coming at them.

“Augh!” His shadow knocked him back.

Riku simply walked into the pitch-black darkness that came up from beneath him and disappeared.

“Riku! Wait!” Leaning on the Keyblade, Sora got to his feet. Riku was already gone.

“Sora, we better get rid of this thing first!” said Goofy.

“But Riku—and Kairi—!”

“Sora, c’mon!”

Finally Sora shook his head forcefully, as if to get something out of it. His shadow knocked Donald into the wall. Sora faced it with the Keyblade ready.

He jumped with a furious roar and swung at the shadow. With a terrible clang, the shadow’s own dark Keyblade blocked it. They had all the same strengths—they were too evenly matched. The fight could go either way.

“Don’t worry, you’ve got backup!” Donald began to wave his wand.

“I’m gonna take care of this thing!” said Sora. “You guys go with Peter Pan and find out how to get back down to that other room!”

Sora and the shadow both knocked each other flat. But he got up again and faced it. “I’m fine! Go!”

Riku…

What Riku was doing was wrong. Hurting other people to help Kairi was wrong.

This world was in danger of being consumed by the darkness. Ignoring that to save Kairi was wrong.

I want to help her, too…, Sora thought. I do.

But…with our world gone, if we just save Kairi, where can we go back to? Don’t we have to go back home, to our island?!

“I’m making it so the three of us will always be together.”

He felt as if he’d heard Kairi’s voice from somewhere.

I won’t lose. This shadow won’t beat me.

So Riku and Kairi and I can sit on the beach together again, talking and laughing.

I can’t lose…!

Sora struck the shadow, and it collapsed on itself, sinking into the floor.

“You did it!” Goofy cheered from behind him.

Sora took some deep breaths and stared at his shadow. It crept over the floor and settled by his feet.

“Wow, not bad, Sora. You beat it all by yourself!”

“Yeah…” He sighed, a little winded, but looked at Goofy with a grin.

“Sora…” Goofy sounded a little worried.

Then Donald, who was searching on the floor along with Peter Pan, made a discovery. “I found the door!”

Peter Pan made a trapdoor in the floor spring open and flew down to the room below.

“Let’s go!” The trio followed him.

“Wendy!” Peter Pan landed close to her. Wendy was on the floor, unconscious. Tinker Bell flew twinkling around him, but he waved her off. “Well, this is as far as I can go, Sora. I gotta help Wendy.”

He picked her up and flew out a porthole. Tinker Bell, having been so nastily ignored, sulked and flew off somewhere else.

“Is that…it?” Goofy scratched his head.

“Should we go back to the Gummi Ship?” said Donald.

“Yeah, let’s go!”

At Sora’s strangely cheerful voice, Donald and Goofy exchanged glances. Just then they could hear a commotion from above.

“C’mon!”

They hurried back up above deck.

When they emerged from the hold, Captain Hook was there to greet them. “Quite a codfish, that Riku—running off with the girl without even saying good-bye.”

The maritime winds howled over the deck.

“Run off where? Tell me where he went!” Sora brandished the Keyblade at Hook.

“To the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides. But you won’t be going there.” Hook held up a glass lantern that was handed to him by Smee. Inside it was not a flame, but Tinker Bell, sparkling helplessly. “Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind?”

Sora barely shook his head. Of course they couldn’t abandon Tinker Bell.

“Hand over the Keyblade, and I’ll spare your lives. Be glad I’m merciful, unlike the Heartless! So, which will it be? The Keyblade or the plank?” With a sweep of his hook, the pirate captain indicated the plank jutting out over the water.

If he gave away the Keyblade, Sora thought, he wouldn’t be able to help Kairi. But…if he didn’t, what about Tinker Bell?

“Sora!”

He moved toward the plank as if driven that way by the Heartless. Donald and Goofy began to help him, but Hook had the point of his namesake in the lantern, at Tinker Bell’s throat. “Not so fast!”

Then they heard the ticking of a watch.

“It’s him! The crocodile that took me hand!” Hook peered warily into the water and jumped back. The enormous crocodile opened its mouth wide, its beady eyes fixed on the pirate.

“He’s after me other hand! I can’t stay here! Go away! Ah, I can’t stand the sight of him! …S-Smee, you take care of them!” In a panic, Hook fled into his cabin.

The Heartless crept closer to Sora, pushing him farther out onto the plank. The crocodile waited in the water below for dinner to fall into its gaping jaws.

“Fly, Sora!” he heard Peter Pan’s voice whisper. “Just believe, and you can do it!”

I can fly. If I believe.

Sora closed his eyes and jumped backward off the plank. The crocodile’s jaws closed—but Sora flew up into the air.

“But, but—how could that be?!” Smee stammered. While he stood there flabbergasted, Peter Pan swooped in and snatched away the lantern.

“Peter Pan!” Sora landed beside him on the plank.

“Hey, you stuck around to save Tink. You didn’t think I’d leave you all behind, did you?!” Grinning, Peter Pan opened the lantern for Tinker Bell to fly out.

“Oh no, oh no!” Smee ran away from the Heartless. They turned on Sora instead. Donald lifted his wand, and Goofy held out his shield.

“You’re all going down!” With the hostage set free, Sora charged into the swarm of Heartless, and the others followed.

Now he’d defeated his own shadow—normal Heartless were no challenge to him at all. And with Tinker Bell and Wendy safe from Hook, Peter Pan had nothing to hold him back, either.

They called to one another as they fought. “Not too bad, Sora!”

“Not too bad yourself!”

“We’re not so bad, either! A-hyuck!” Goofy took a huge leap and struck at a flying Heartless. Donald shouted, piercing the air with spell after spell.

Soon there wasn’t a single Heartless left on deck.

“Now all that’s left is Hook!”

Peter Pan stopped Sora from barging into the captain’s quarters and instead lightly rapped at the door.

“Is that you, Smee?” they heard Hook say. “Did you finish them off?”

Peter Pan stifled laughter and held his nose to reply. “Aye, Cap’n. They walked the plank, every last one of them.”

It sounded just like Smee. Sora exchanged glances with Donald and Goofy.

“Is that so now?!” Hook bellowed and burst out of the cabin past them. As he looked this way and that for Smee, who wasn’t there, Peter Pan snuck up from behind with his dagger and jabbed the captain’s stern.

“Yeowch!” Hook jumped around. “Pe-Peter Pan—blast you!”

“Ready to make a splash, you old codfish? It’s your turn to walk the plank!” Peter Pan threw his dagger at Hook.

“I’ll have vengeance for me left hand, you dirty brat!” He drew the sword at his hip and lunged at Peter Pan with alarming speed.

Peter Pan jumped out of the way and flew in loops above Hook’s head. “Ha! Only if you can reach me!”

“And he’s not fighting alone!” Sora rushed in with the Keyblade while Hook glared at Peter Pan.

Evading them, Hook was moving ever closer to the edge.

“Hah! Got you!” Sora taunted, driving Hook toward the railing until he leaned backward over the water—where he could hear the ticking sound again.

Hook shrieked in alarm. “It—it—it’s him! He’s here!” He shoved Sora aside with sheer force and went scurrying around the deck. Sora and the others could only stare.

“Say, Peter Pan…,” Goofy called out, and the boy flew closer. Goofy lowered his voice. “Who’s this fella that’s got Captain Hook so scared?”

Peter Pan laughed. “Oh, it’s just the crocodile—the one that’s been waiting for someone to walk the plank! Hook really can’t stand him.”

Having run clear around the deck in panic, Hook stood wheezing. He glanced out at the water and shuddered.

“But why is he ticking?” Goofy wondered.

“When the crocodile ate Hook’s hand, it was holding his precious pocket watch. So now that’s in his belly, too, and when he comes close, you can hear it ticking.” Peter Pan looped in the air, snickering.

“Gee, I feel kinda sorry for him,” said Sora, scratching his head.

“Feel sorry for him?” Donald retorted. “He took Wendy and Kairi and Tinker Bell all prisoner! That’s the kind of guy he is! Fire!” He waved his wand and set Hook’s sleeve aflame.

Hook yelped, and then his rear was on fire, too, but he began to chase after Donald, swinging his sword frantically.

“Quack! Wawawaaaak!” It was Donald’s turn to run in a panic.

“So, how tough is Captain Hook?” Goofy asked, startled.

“Hmm. I wonder…” Peter Pan shrugged. Then, with a smirk, he went after Hook again with his dagger.

“Neverland’s not yours for the taking, you know!”

Hook removed his jacket to beat out the fires on it and glared furiously at Peter Pan. “Blast you, you insolent brat!”

“Why don’t we finish this, Hook?” Peter Pan landed on the deck with his knife out toward the pirate.

“Perfect—except I’ll be finishing you!” With his jacket back on, Hook made a thrust at Peter Pan. But the boy cleanly evaded and kept doing so, as he cleverly led Hook toward the plank where Sora had been driven not long before.

“Ha-ha! Over here, Hook!” he taunted, flying again.

“Why you—!” Hook leaped at Peter Pan, dramatically lunged and missed. And below him was nothing but water. “Yaaaaargh!”

He fell into the ocean with a tremendous splash. A single sheet of paper, having fallen from his pocket, drifted slowly after him.

“That’s gotta be part of Ansem’s report!” Donald managed to snatch it out of the air.

The ticking crocodile homed in on Hook, who noisily swam for his life. “Heeeeeeelp!” His howls echoed over the Neverland sea.

The waves quietly washed against the pirate ship. That sound was so familiar to Sora…

The Neverland sea was calm now, like the ocean at Destiny Island. Leaning on the balustrade, Sora stared out over the water.

“Huh,” said Goofy. “Kairi couldn’t wake up, so maybe she’s really lost her—”

“Sssh!” Donald cut him off, shaking his head.

“Sora…,” Peter Pan started saying from behind him.

“I still can’t believe it…,” Sora murmured and looked up at the starry night sky. “I really flew! Wait till I tell Kairi. I wonder if she’ll believe me? Probably not.”

“You can bring her to Neverland sometime! Then she can try it herself,” said Peter Pan.

Sora turned to him. “If I believe, I can do anything, even fly. So I’ll find Kairi. I know I will. There’s so much I want to tell her…about flying, and the pirates, and everything that’s happened.” His eyes shone, free from doubt.

I’ll believe. I won’t give up.

Then Tinker Bell fluttered down, twinkling at them.

“Sora, let’s go see the clock tower,” said Peter Pan.

“The clock tower?”

“Tink says there’s something there.”

The trio took off into the air, following Peter Pan to the clock tower.

“Wendy!” Peter Pan called. She was sitting on the edge of the clock tower, gazing over the city. The enormous clock tower looked as tall as a skyscraper, with all the lights from countless buildings and houses spread out below. Each of the four walls had a great clockface, telling the time for miles around.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy had met Wendy only briefly aboard the pirate ship. Uncertain how to talk to her, they looked at one another, until Wendy spoke first.

“Are you Sora?”

“Yeah… Er, nice to meet you, Wendy.”

“And…you two must be Donald and Goofy. Peter Pan told me all about you.” Wendy smiled sweetly, but then she looked a little bit worried. “What about Kairi?”

Sora shook his head.

“Oh, I see… Well, don’t give up, Sora!” she said brightly, as if to dispel the bit of gloom that had come over Sora, and stood up. “Look! Isn’t it such a lovely view? And thanks to this clock tower, you can tell the time from anywhere in town.”

Sora stood beside her and looked down. He’d never seen a view like this before—the lights of the city seeming to cover the whole world.

Now he had another thing to tell Kairi.

He sprang back into the air and flew around the clock tower. “Huh…? The clock on this side is broken.”

“Yes, it looks like only one of them is,” Wendy said a little anxiously.

“I wonder if we can fix it?” Donald flew over to look at the clockface that showed the wrong time. “Maybe it just needs a little nudge!”

He whacked the minute hand as hard as he could with his wand and managed to move it a tiny bit.

“C’mon, now!” Donald kept whaling away at it, and when he’d finally pushed the minute hand to the number twelve, the clockface began to glow. And…

“The Keyhole!” Donald flew up higher. The Keyhole had appeared on the clockface. Sora drifted closer and pointed the Keyblade at it.

A beam of light shot from the tip of the Keyblade into the Keyhole and sealed it with a click. Then something tumbled out of the Keyhole.

“Whoa!” Goofy fumbled to catch it. “It’s a navigation Gummi!”

Donald soared into the sky, and just then, the clock struck twelve.

“…Peter, it’s time,” Wendy said and began to walk down the corridor along the tower’s edge. Peter Pan flew slowly beside her. “Are you really going back to Neverland?”

“But we can see each other anytime!” He held tight to Wendy’s hands. “As long as you don’t forget Neverland, that is.”

Sora watched them together. After a moment, he went and said, “Wendy…”

She looked up at him and smiled shyly. “As long as I don’t forget… It’s true. Peter will always be with me. So don’t forget Kairi, either! If she remains in your heart, Sora, you’re sure to find her again.”

“…Yeah. You’re right.”

Tinker Bell flew around Donald, twinkling brightly.

“Donald, Goofy… Is it time to go?” said Sora. They soared into the sky after him.

“Okay, Peter Pan, we’re off!”

“See you later, Sora!” Floating by the tower, Peter Pan waved to them. Beside him, Tinker Bell seemed a little sad.

The trio returned to the Gummi Ship.